Kota Kinabalu: A polygamous couple was among nine others who participated in a mass wedding reception held in conjunction with the Maulidur Rasul celebration here, Monday.The event was organised by Global Ikhwan Sdn Bhd in collaboration with the Obedient Wives Club's Sabah branch.
"I got to know him through Facebook in November last year and I think it is God's fate that I marry him," said Zahidah Muhasim, 21, who married Muhammad Amirul Affendi, 22, of Sarawak.
On how long they were together as a couple, she said: "We were never a couple, we only started to be couple after we got married on Jan. 29."
Zahidah, a local kindergarten teacher stressed that she was aware he was already married.
"Perhaps for the community, polygamy is unacceptable but for me, it is something which is actually 'Sunnah Rasulullah' (Prophet's way of life), hence we should adopt it," she claimed.
The wedding for a majority of the newlyweds were arranged by their families which promote "nikah dulu sebelum bercinta" (marriage first before falling in love).
Meanwhile, Obedient Wives Club Committee Member, Roslina Sulaiman, said the reception is the first programme organised by them since they expanded to Sabah on Jan. 25, with a total of some 100 members.
"Today we witness and celebrate the wedding reception of nine couples, whose daily life routine will change because of marriage.
"Patience, understanding and compromise are important in facing challenges in married life, thus husbands must teach and guide their spouse to be God fearing, while the wife must be 100 per cent obedient to her spouse within Islamic teachings.
"Women who plan to start a family or who want a happy family, are advised to be obedient to their spouse," she said, adding that wives who disobey their husbands are ignorant about the teachings of Islam and can endanger the community.
She said based on the statistics from the Welfare Department, Sabah has the highest number of babies born out of wedlock, which is an issue, faced everywhere.
"These problems from outside the home actually starts in the home itself, thus the reason we promote 100 per cent that wives should show obedience to their husbands," she said, adding that the club also promotes 'Sex Suci Islam' (Islamic sacred sex).
When asked whether use of the word "sex" in their teachings, is to gain attention, she said:
"We are not gaining attention. In fact, what we want is to grab the people's attention towards God.
"Other people don't want to talk or discuss sex, why not?
We need to discuss this, let's take for example two chickens being slaughtered, both are chicken but the method of slaughtering determines whether it is right or wrong.
"The same thing applies in sex, when we talk about 'Seks Suci'.
What we mean is sex which is free from immoral activities, thus it is important for every couple to be legally married and to have the right teachings before having sex," she said.
"The topic on sex becomes an issue because it is not a topic normally discussed, which makes it difficult to accept for certain people when it is discussed openly," she said.
Meanwhile, Global Ikhwan Sabah Zone Director, Md Som Jalil said the activity organised in collaboration with the Obedient Wives Club is registered among the charity programmes organised by Global Ikhwan.
On whether Global Ikhwan was under investigation by the Islamic authorities, he said they were investigated due to confusion and misunderstanding.
"They questioned us on why we used the prophet as a "Tokoh Sex in Islam" (Sex role model in Islam) to which we answered that the prophet is complete with all the aspects of education and affection which includes sex.
In fact, sex is among necessities in life," he said.
On whether they have received calls from the government asking them to shut down, he said nobody had asked them to do so, adding, however, that they have taken down their posters and banners just to keep the peace.
On whether they were given approval from the State Government to set up Global Ikhwan, he said: "We are global Ikhwan Sdn Bhd, when one is known as global, it is a movement that moves around the world."
"In terms of registration from a religious view, we are not officially registered because we only do charity activities under Global Ikhwan," he said.
